MORE 'BEST-BOOKS-OF-2014' POSTS
The Most Magnificent Thing By Ashley Spires Kids Can Press $16.95 ISBN: 978-1-55453-704-4 Ages 3-7 On shelves now I was at a conference of math enthusiasts the other day to discuss kids and the state of math related children’s books. Not my usual scene but I was open to it. Despite what some might fear, […]
Boys of Blur By N.D. Wilson Random House Books for Young Readers $16.99 ISBN: 978-0-449-81673-8 Ages 9-12 On shelves April 8th. I like a kid’s book with ambition. It’s all well and good to write one about magic candy shops or goofy uncles or simpering unicorns or what have you. The world is big and […]
Rules of Summer By Shaun Tan Arthur A. Levine Books (an imprint of Scholastic) $18.99 ISBN: 978-0-545-63912-5 Ages 4 and up On shelves April 29th When I was a young teen my favorite book was Ray Bradbury’s Dandelion Wine. Steeped in Bradbury’s nostalgia for his youth, I was in the throes of adolescence, probably on […]
Grandfather Gandhi Arun Gandhi and Bethany Hegedus Illustrated by Evan Turk Atheneum (an imprint of Simon and Schuster) $17.99 ISBN: 978-1-4424-2365-X Ages 4-8 On shelves now. Are you familiar with the concept of booktalking? It’s a technique librarians developed to get people interested in books they might otherwise not pick up. The whole concept is […]
Curiosity By Gary Blackwood Dial (an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group) $16.99 ISBN: 978-0-8037-3924-6 Ages 9-12 On shelves April 10th Blackwood’s back, baby! And not a minute too soon. Back in 1998, the author released The Shakespeare Stealer which would soon thereafter become his best-known work. A clever blending of historical fiction and adventure, […]
The Fox and the Crow By Manasi Subramaniam Illustrated by Culpeo S. Fox Karadi Tales $17.95 ISBN: 978-81-8190-303-7 Ages 4 and up On shelves now In the classic Aesop fable of The Fox and the Crow where do your loyalties lie? You remember the tale, don’t you? Long story short (or, rather, short story shorter) […]
Firefly July: A Year of Very Short Poems Selected by Paul B. Janeczko Illustrated by Melissa Sweet Candlewick Press $16.99 ISBN: 978-0-7636-4842-8 Ages 4-8 On shelves now Is reviewing works of poetry essentially a ridiculous thing to attempt? I’m not trying to be facetious or anything, I honestly want to know. It took me a […]
The Night Gardener By Jonathan Auxier Illustrated by Patrick Arrasmith Amulet Books (an imprint of Abrams) $16.95 ISBN: 978-1-4197-1144-2 Ages 10 and up On shelves May 20th For whatever reason, 2014 is a dark year in children’s middle grade fiction. I speak from experience. Fantasy in particular has been steeped in a kind of thoughtful […]
Sparky! By Jenny Offill Illustrated by Chris Appelhans Schwartz & Wade (an imprint of Random House) $16.99 ISBN: 978-0-375-87023-1 Ages 4-8 On shelves March 11th The sloth is not a noble animal. Few people spend time contemplating their heroic qualities and distinguished countenances. Had I an Oxford English Dictionary on hand I’d be mighty interested […]
The Griffin and the Dinosaur: How Adrienne Mayor Discovered a Fascinating Link Between Myth and Science By Marc Aronson with Adrienne Mayor Illustrated by Chris Muller National Geographic $18.99 ISBN: 978-1-4263-1108-6 Ages 9-12 On shelves April 8th. I remember back in 2007 when the American Museum of Natural History in NYC premiered a show called […]